UEFA Champions League: Liverpool eye revenge, Napoli aim to win the group in November 1, 2022 clash

Topics: TV Schedules, Liverpool, Napoli, UEFA Champions League

The Reds host the Serie A leaders wanting revenge, but the odds of Klopp's men winning the group are slim. Here's a preview of this fixture.

The UEFA Champions League resumes this midweek, with the group stage of the 2022/23 season coming to a wrap on Tuesday through Wednesday. One of these games is a highly-anticipated showdown between Liverpool and Napoli, two teams that are still fighting for the top spot in their group despite having already booked their tickets to the round of 16.

Anfield will be the venue for this clash as the Merseyside giants look to get revenge on the Italians. As of now, three points separate these two clubs, with Napoli boasting that advantage ahead of Matchday 6. The reason for this is due to what occurred when these two sides locked horns in Naples.

The Reds were in crisis back then, and – in the eyes of many – are still in chaos to this day. Nonetheless, not many expected Jurgen Klopp's side to get shredded to pieces by the Serie A outfit, and yet that is exactly what happened.

Disastrous displays from Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and James Milner led to an unforgettable 4-1 defeat, with the Premier League giants going 3-0 down inside the first 45 minutes. In fact, it could have been worse as Spalletti's men missed several opportunities and a penalty in the first half.

That was one of Liverpool's worst performances of the season to date, but Salah and Co. have endured a number of hiccups since regardless. Their most recent fixture was a home clash against Leeds, which they lost 2-1, bringing an end to Virgil van Dijk's unbeaten record at Anfield. In fact, prior to that, the Reds suffered a shocking 1-0 defeat away to relegation-battling Nottingham Forest and are now 15 points behind league leaders Arsenal in the standings. However, there have been promising displays and results in their last six matches, including the 7-1 thrashing of Rangers and the 1-0 victories over both Man City and West Ham.

Unfortunately, Klopp's desire for revenge comes at the worst time as Napoli are one of the most in-form teams in the continent. The Italian top-flight leaders head into this game on the back of a remarkable 13-game winning streak, thrashing Sassuolo in their most recent fixture.

Gli Azzurri had the home advantage in that tie, winning 4-0 in that weekend affair. Victor Osimhen bagged a hat trick in that win while Georgian sensation Khvicha Kvaratskhelia also got on the scoresheet.

Since that 4-1 triumph over Liverpool, Spalletti's side have gone from strength to strength, beating the likes of AC Milan and Roma in the league. Furthermore, while the Italian giants have not won Group A, the no.1 spot is all but in their hands.

As mentioned earlier, Napoli have a three-point advantage over Liverpool, meaning a defeat at Anfield would see the two teams end the group stage level on points. However, the tiebreaker in the UEFA Champions League is the head-to-head record, meaning that Kvaratskhelia and Co. simply need to avoid losing by four goals or more in order to top the table.

Team news

Liverpool: Klopp's side are still struggling with injuries as Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Joel Matip, and Arthur are all injured. Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain aren't in the squad either, meaning Jurgen will have a similar team to choose from as the Leeds game. After Joe Gomez's error in that 2-1 loss, it will be interesting to see whether Ibrahima Konate replaces him in the lineup.

Napoli: Salvatore Sirigu and Amir Rrahmani have fitness issues while Matteo Politano is a yellow card away from being suspended for the 1st leg of the round of 16. Giovanni Simeone could come in for Osimhen, who scored a hat trick over the weekend, as the Nigerian striker has been dealing with injuries this season.

Key stats

Spalletti's men have won their last five games in Europe.
Napoli look to become only the second Italian team in UEFA Champions League history to win all six of their group-stage games in a season, a feat only AC Milan have achieved.
However, the Serie A side have never won a European game against English opposition in England, losing eight and drawing three in their previous 11 attempts.
Liverpool enter this tie on the back of a four-game winning streak in this competition.
This will be the third meeting between these two clubs at Anfield since November 2010, with the Reds failing to win only one of those encounters.